Medal of Honor, Harold A. Garman, World War II, August 25, 1944
“When wounded comrades were trapped in the middle of the Seine under enemy machine-gun fire, one medic dove headlong into the river. Pvt. Harold Garman swam through a storm of bullets to drag them to safety, saving lives at the cost of his own peril.”
August 25, 2025
Name: Harold A. Garman
War: World War II
Date of Action: August 25, 1944
Summary of Action
As Allied forces fought to enlarge their tenuous bridgehead north of the Seine River near Montereau, France, German defenders poured devastating fire into the crossing zones. Assault boats loaded with wounded men attempted to ferry across, but one boat was caught midstream in the open and raked by a German machine gun. Terrified litter bearers leapt into the water to survive, leaving behind three helpless casualties—one gravely wounded man unable to rise from his litter, and two others clinging desperately to the sides of the boat.
On the southern bank stood Pvt. Harold A. Garman, a 26-year-old medic from Fairfield, Illinois. Without hesitation and fully exposed, he dove into the Seine and swam straight into the wall of fire. Machine-gun rounds churned the water around him, but Garman pressed on, reaching the stranded craft. Grasping its side, he heaved with every ounce of strength, towing the heavy boat back toward the southern bank—all while the German gunners tried to cut him down.
Against impossible odds, he reached the far shore, saving all three patients. His gallantry sparked a wave of courage; other medics rushed forward, launched additional boats, and resumed evacuation efforts that had momentarily faltered under fire. By his single act of valor, Garman not only preserved lives but restored the lifeline of medical evacuation essential to the survival of his division’s wounded.
Medal of Honor Citation
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 25 August 1944, in the vicinity of Montereau, France, the enemy was sharply contesting any enlargement of the bridgehead which our forces had established on the northern bank of the Seine River in this sector. Casualties were being evacuated to the southern shore in assault boats paddled by litter bearers from a medical battalion. Pvt. Garman, also a litter bearer in this battalion, was working on the friendly shore carrying the wounded from the boats to waiting ambulances. As 1 boatload of wounded reached midstream, a German machinegun suddenly opened fire upon it from a commanding position on the northern bank 100 yards away. All of the men in the boat immediately took to the water except 1 man who was so badly wounded he could not rise from his litter. Two other patients who were unable to swim because of their wounds clung to the sides of the boat. Seeing the extreme danger of these patients, Pvt. Garman without a moment’s hesitation plunged into the Seine. Swimming directly into a hail of machinegun bullets, he rapidly reached the assault boat and then while still under accurately aimed fire towed the boat with great effort to the southern shore. This soldier’s moving heroism not only saved the lives of the three patients but so inspired his comrades that additional assault boats were immediately procured and the evacuation of the wounded resumed. Pvt. Garman’s great courage and his heroic devotion to the highest tenets of the Medical Corps may be written with great pride in the annals of the corps.
